How to Know If Someone Restricted You on Instagram

Instagram is undoubtedly among the most popular and widely used social media platforms. People use Instagram to share digital content, have conversations with others, share stories, and much more. While Instagram is a fun place to be, you won’t know if your action irks the other person, resulting in you getting blocked or worse restricted. While you can easily know if someone blocked you on Instagram, figuring out whether you are restricted is tricky, as you can still access the other person’s profile.

Instagram introduced the restrict profile feature to reduce cyberbullying and online harassment, and for that, every user must know what happens when you restrict someone on Instagram. In this article, we have explained how you can determine if someone has restricted your account on Instagram.

How to Tell If You Are Restricted on Instagram

Knowing if someone restricted you on Instagram is a little complicated, but be assured you have come to the right place. We have tested a few methods that can help you determine if someone restricted you or not.

Note: The app has no official method to know if someone has restricted your account on Instagram. The methods mentioned below can only indicate if you have been restricted by someone and there’s no foolproof way to be sure of it.

1. Look for Your Comments from Another Account

The primary function of the “Restrict Account” feature is to reduce cyberbullying, to an extent. Any comment the user makes after being restricted is not visible to the general users; only the restricted user and the account owner can see it. Additionally, the comments from a restricted user will appear with a “Restricted Comment” tag to the account owner, and they can approve or delete your comment.

Follow these steps to know if someone has restricted your Instagram account:

1. Comment on the post of the user who you think has restricted you.

2. Create a new Instagram account or log in to your other existing account.

3. Search for the user’s account through Instagram search.

4. You will need to drop a follow request if the user’s account is private, and if it is a public account, you can directly access it.

5. Open the comments section of the post on which you commented using your main account.

6. If you can see your comment via your secondary account, it means your main account is not restricted. And, if the comment isn’t visible, the user has probably restricted your main account.

2. Try Sending them an Instagram DM

If someone restricts you, any new message you send will land in the request box rather than in the inbox. The user will not even get a notification of your new message, and they will have to manually approve your message request to reply to you. Furthermore, you will not see read receipts even if they have read your message.

To determine whether you are restricted by someone on Instagram, send them a new message and wait for sometime. If the user takes too long to reply to your messages or isn’t replying but is active on Instagram through stories, posts, or comments, it probably indicates your account is restricted.

3. Check their Activity Status

While this method is not as effective as the other two, it can help determine if someone restricted you on Instagram. Technically, if a user restricts your account, you can not see their last active status or the last time they checked their DMs.

To view someone’s “Activity Status,” you must enable yours via Instagram account settings. Here’s how you can do that:

1. Go to your Instagram account settings and tap the “Privacy” button.

2. Now, tap the “Activity Status” option and turn on the “Show Activity Status” toggle if it isn’t already.

Now you can see other users’ “Activity Status” if they also have it enabled. This is why we called this method the least effective, as it can not guarantee whether you are restricted because there is a chance that the other user might have disabled their “Activity Status.” Still, there is no harm in trying.

Getting Blocked vs Restricted on Instagram: Differences

Blocked on Instagram

When someone blocks you on Instagram, whatever the reason, you won’t be able to access their profile. Their entire feed will be hidden, and their stories will not be shown at the top of your feed. Even if you search for their profile on Instagram, the results will come up blank. Instagram also allows the user to block any other account associated with your account. This means you can not access their profile even if you create a new Instagram account.

Restricted on Instagram

Getting restricted by someone on Instagram is somewhat similar to getting blocked but in a more polite way. Consider it a warning before you get blocked if you continue to bother them. If someone restricts you, then, unlike block, you can still access their profile, view their stories, and even comment on their posts; only your comments and messages will be hidden.

Frequently Asked Questions